What are you listening to??

Ahhh.... Thursday.

A great day for blues don'tcha think?

Me? Personally, I think any day ending in -y is a great day for blues or jazz!! This morning I'm having "Breakfast with Bubba" on KJAZZ. I'm not real sure when or where I got on board with this site- but, it's been a standard for a few years now. It's out of UCLA....

So- go chill, stream some great jam and enjoy the day.

I feel some art coming on! Will post later if anything worthy comes along.

HUMOR FOR LEXOPHILES

Lexophile: LOVERS OF WORDS, is a newly coined phrase and considered to be a neologism. Please see above link for additional information. The following has been widely circulated on the i-net- thanks POP for the forward.

I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.

Police were called to a daycare center where a 3-yr-old was resisting a rest.

Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.

The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference.

To write with a broken pencil is pointless.

When fish are in schools, they sometimes take debate.

The short fortune teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.

A thief who stole a calendar got 12 months.

A thief fell & broke his leg in wet cement. He became a hardened criminal.

When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, U.C.L.A.

The dead batteries were given out free of charge.

A dentist & a manicurist fought tooth and nail.

A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.

A will is a dead giveaway.

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.

A backward poet writes inverse.

In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count that votes.

A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.

If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.

Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft & I'll show you A-flat miner.

The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.

A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France, resulted in Linoleum Blownapart.

You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.

A calendar's days are numbered.

A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.

A boiled egg is hard to beat.

He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

Art Anyone?

I am so tired... I've been nothing but a SLUG today!

Maybe it's because it's 100% humidity or maybe it's because my brain has been filled to capacity with Photoshop and Illustrator tutorials- I wake up dreaming that I'm editing vector images!

This is the last assignment I did. Whew- it's even mounted and ready to be turned in (ALL 8 of them are mounted!)..... 3 days EARLY, Mom! Yeah, me!

Pretty simple and way too washed out for me- but, it held its' own during critique, so that's what I'm submitting for grade.


Am looking forward to creating all kinds of new pieces; everything combined will go oh-so-far when I get to printmaking and painting. Starting the papermaking course in 8 days, yippee!!

This weekend, though- is a holiday weekend. The first time EVER in Byron's career that he's not had to fret about whether or not they would be allowed off. It's pretty much a given. A Federal holiday means a day off! WOW! What a huge difference in our way of planning... now if we only had the gas money to GO somewhere, haha.

Happily, the little red mongrel, Mis-Read or Lil' Reddie (no name has been chosen yet) made an attempt at approaching B this afternoon when he thought she might be ready to eat. She's so close to getting over her fear of humans (and cats!) that it shouldn't be too much longer til she makes friends with him and then she'll get shots, neutering and some much needed pest eradication.

Tonight, B grilled some awesome burgers, brats and we hosted another blacksmith buddy, N, for supper. Even J showed up- but, as usual opted out of eating. When the grill started sending smoke the way of Lil' Reddie, she decided that he was coaxing her again and for the first time she didn't run when she saw we were all out on the patio. Yup... it won't be long and I'll have pictures when she does.

Digital Tech Skills • Exposé

2 weeks and millions of image files later....
I have a small body of work ready to present for grade.
Yee-haw.
I'm so excited.
I'm so exhausted.

I think I should use the above text for a composition for him! May do that.... later.

Still have to mount these images- but, the web-images are through and so I can post them here.

These are more of the vector drawings. Reference the last few posts to see the single crayola and key to better understand how the compositions were built upon and studies of gradations, contrast, etc..

Quilted Art Revealed

I failed to post a link to these after teasing them earlier in the month and gifting them over Mother's Day weekend.

While they are technically not quilt squares- they are textile art nonetheless. And, do have a bit of stitching on them, some batting and fabric on both sides.

I call them prayer squares as they can be hung on the wall and be a visual reminder to pray for the JJ's while on their mission journey. The photo of Jocelyn & Jessica (the JJ's as they are affectionately known) and the iconography is Russian and Christian symbols, hearts for the Harts (the host family), crosses, St Basil's cathedral (and it's lovely onion domes), matroyshka dolls and a Russian postmark.

I've got several more made and a couple more to be stitched this next week. BTW-- Mae heartily endorsed them and said that they were very nicely done. She finally understood my desire to integrate modern technique with less traditional methods to create something and I never meant to infer that she was lessening the process of mine (or other's) quilting projects.

A hibiscus by any other name....

is still a hibiscus!

From Illustrator class! a preview of my projects!

Enjoy

Colors EVERYWHERE!!

Yup.

My other vector drawing is.... a color crayon! Rachel's blog-banner inspired me! Thanks Rach!

After manipulating on it all afternoon- I finally played around and made something FUN! Not that all the assignments aren't fun... it's just that some are more so that others.

and, here it is!! 

Go out and COLOR yourself HAPPY!!

But, before you do.... take a look at this! I'm just sure it's Wrigley's long lost family member!!

Notes from Art Class

Illustrator assignment: 

1. Take one simple object
   
2. Photo or scan into photoshop image
   
3. Import into Illustrator, draw object using pen tool. Experiment with layers, vectors, holding handles, etc.
   

Using original image- turn into compound design. 

Experiment with radial rotation, mirror imaging, scaling, etc.

So far, so good..... 

Lace is at Stake!

Elizabeth Gaskell 

painted in 1832 by William John Thomson

The story of Cranford was written 1851-53 and can be found as an e-book on Project Gutenberg.

“This is Cranford. 

Everything unchanging. 

Perpetual. 

A society that knows itself.

A place at peace.”


“Young man! out of my way! we are in the throes of an exceptional emergency!”

“Is someone in need of medical attention?”

“This is no occasion for sport! there is lace at stake!”


Ahhhh… yes! Cranford. Poor kitty.

Happy-it's-not-Mexican-Independence-Day!

or.... Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Oh? And, you thought this holiday was when Mexico celebrated their independence from Spain? Wrong. That would be in September.

Yes, I'd thunked incorrectly, too. Nor is it a Mexican federal holiday. *gasp*

So say many sites I googled and Wikipedia.

History of observance
According to a paper published by the UCLA Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture, about the origin of the observance of Cinco de Mayo in the United States, the modern American focus on that day first started in California in the 1860s in response to the resistance to French rule in Mexico. The paper notes that "The holiday, which has been celebrated in California continuously since 1863, is virtually ignored in Mexico.

Some Americans would rather that our culture didn't acknowledge this event... but, I think it is an excellent reason to raise our margarita glasses and toast independence at any and all occasions (Gen. Sam Houston would heartily agree!) and especially if it's freedom from the frenchies. Not that I have anything against champagne, the community or the beverage. But... now, about those frogs- absolutely NO ONE wants to have to subordinate to the likes of them.

Our family has almost always recognized this holiday.... yes, we like to eat.... and drink... alot. This is how my parents explained it to us. Keep in mind- we were transplanted and raised Tex-i-can- so celebrating rebellion and independent thought was as natural as having an oil well in your back yard.

Historically, the Mexican people have an inordinate fondness for – indeed, a LOVE of -- MAYONNAISE.

A little known fact surrounding the tragic loss of the Titanic in April, 1912 was that her holds contained several thousand cases of fine French mayonnaise.

After depositing her human cargo in New York, the great ship was to have continued south to a Mexican port where this French delicacy was to be unloaded for distribution there.

When word finally reached Mexico of the loss of the precious cargo to the cold waters of the Atlantic, they declared a national holiday.

It is known as “SINKO DA MAYO.”

A far less well known April holiday.

April 21st was the famed Battle of San Jacinto where General Houston led the charge: yelling and screaming "Remember the Alamo" and woke Santa Anna from his afternoon nap and completely ruin-ated 4 o'clock tea. Today's school children are convinced that the Republic of Texans (that's not to say that they were in fact Republicans) would have won even more quickly had they just climbed up on the monument and fired their weapons down upon the Mexican army below. Makes sense to me.

The Mexican tend to think of the whole affair like a disaster movie; A Tacolips Now.

Yet, they do seem to always get the final word. By sending us all their illegals; practicing superb marketing skills enticing tourists into spending money on their seasides then sending them all home with Montezuma's revenge.

Howsomever- enjoy your empanadas with a little holandaise sauce and pass me a Corona, please?

Project Peek!

I just can't stand it!! I have to share a peek to my newest project that I mentioned the other day....




I'm so excited!!

Oh? And the poor quality of the photo..... duh! It's a SURPRISE for someone special! I can't show it YET!!

P.S. (added 5/26/08) here's the link to the finished project!

Domestic BLISS!!!

Not much rambling here.... just color and form.